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The Lord's man in black >> Radio evangelist Bob Larson says flying saucers are part of Satan's master plan--and Quebecers are in peril by RUPERT BOTTENBERG
Coming into Montreal from WCHP Radio in Champlain, New York (760 on your AM dial), Larson's show is a shocking and hilarious mishmash of satanic conspiracy theories, greasy huckstering and live, on-air exorcisms. Last week, listeners heard him vanquishing demons that had taken possession of a man, Paul, and his son Nick. Larson's wrangling with the poor fellows' Wolf and Lion spirits was a spectacular and nerve-wracking affair filled with howling, choking and puking noises, interrupted only by the far more pressing matter of commercial breaks hawking Larson's assorted books, videos and other ephemera. One has to wonder whether anyone would actually take Larson seriously, especially in Montreal. But apparently, some of us do: a total of 600 people packed the Centre Pain de Vie, a Christian meeting hall in St. Hubert on the South Shore, last Saturday night for a two-hour, bilingual combination of group therapy, beg-a-thon, and tall-tale session. Another 200 people were turned away at the door. The crowd of believers, diverse in its racial, economic and age spread, welcomed Larson with arms held high in fervour.
Larson's preoccupation with Raël is part of a larger story still. Larson's latest book, UFOs and the Alien Agenda, is a thorough examination of the satanic underpinnings of the "little grey men" craze. As far as Larson is concerned, flying saucers are a tool for introducing demonic forces in our material plane. "Belief in aliens allows people to believe that someone will solve our problems without any moral requirements on our part," Larson says of North America's current conspiracy theory zeitgeist. "It's cheap and easy religion." Larson explained his own role in the matter to the crowd at the centre in pretty simple terms. "I am the Lord's 'Man in Black,'" he said. "I go after the real thing and cast them out in the name of Jesus." But what an enemy Satan is. Larson's beliefs have earned him a Web site devoted entirely to making his life miserable, accusations of adultery and financial flimflam, and a daily barrage of vicious prank calls to his live talk-radio show. When not tangling with Loki and Fenris, he must contend with the far more mundane demons of paranoia and greed. As he said himself on Saturday night, in a particularly hushed and self-reverential voice, "it takes a lot of faith to be me."
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"He's a well-designed, calculated sicko." Bob Larson, host of the syndicated Christian radio show Talk-Back, is referring to Montreal's newest on-air personality, Howard Stern. "The difference between me and him is that I have a moral framework and he doesn't."
But the rally at Pain de Vie was just part of Larson's larger agenda here in Quebec, which he considers a hotbed of "satanic" belief in extraterrestrials. He's got a personal vendetta against the Quebec-based Raëlians, the free-loving UFO cult that operates a flying saucer theme park in Valcourt. Larson regaled the crowd at the centre with a tale of catching self-proclaimed alien messiah Raël in the process of seducing a cult member one third his age. According to Larson, Raël apparently fled the compromising circumstances with the help of a ski mask and a Jeep Cherokee. "I drive a Jeep Cherokee!" Larson told the crowd. "How can Raël be the messiah if he doesn't drive a better vehicle than I do?"